The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday denied a local media report that Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lin (林永樂) had tendered his resignation at a time when the government is under pressure to address the issue of Taiwanese businesspeople affected by anti-China riots in Vietnam last week.
“The report is totally untrue,” ministry spokeswoman Anna Kao (高安) said, adding that Lin was doing his best to deal with the issues related to the protests that have affected many Taiwanese businesspeople operating in Vietnam.
A report carried on the online version of the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) yesterday said that Lin had tendered his resignation in the face of the heavy pressure resulting from the mounting criticism of the ministry’s response to the riots, as well as the challenges of helping the Taiwanese affected by the unrest seek compensation from the Vietnamese government.
The report came after a Taiwanese delegation led by Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) arrived in Vietnam earlier in the day to assist Taiwanese businesspeople in the Southeast Asian country.
The group is set to visit the areas hardest-hit in the unrest, including Binh Duong and Dong Nai provinces, and meet with Taiwanese businesspeople to learn more about their needs.
The delegation is also to meet with Vietnamese authorities in Hanoi tomorrow.
A total of 224 Taiwanese companies have reported suffering damage during the anti-China riots, with 18 factories set on fire, five of which were completely destroyed, according to statistics compiled by the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
The operations of about 1,100 Taiwanese enterprises in Vietnam have been suspended, it said.
The anti-Chinese protests erupted in southern Vietnam on May 13 over China’s placement of an oil rig near the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島) in the South China Sea, which it, Taiwan and Vietnam all claim.
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